Ottawa-Glandorf’s Grant Evers stretches for yards in Friday’s win against Kenton. Evers finished with 199 rushing yards, including a pair of second-half touchdowns.
Jessica Trinko | The Lima News
OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf can stop thinking like a team that only won one game last year. The Titans can start thinking of themselves as one that already won one after a 34-18 win against Kenton in Friday’s Western Buckeye League opener.
O-G watched a 14-point lead in the second quarter shrink to just two points by halftime. Rather than folding, the Titans opened up the third quarter with a series of impressive plays to hold off Kenton’s comeback hopes.
“Those two scores we got right away after halftime are big,” O-G coach Ken Schriner said. “You know, our guys up front did a great job. We’ll see it on film, and I’m sure I’ll still find some mistakes, but I’m glad to see we’re improving.”
The Titans (1-1, 1-0 Western Buckeye League) opened up the second half with momentum. Grant Evers scored a 40-yard touchdown run the hard way. A defender hit him about five yards downfield, but he popped off that hit and cruised up the left sideline for a touchdown.
Kenton faltered on the ensuing kickoff, mishandling the ball. O-G’s Riley Trombley recovered the loose ball, setting the Titans up at Kenton’s 25. Three plays later, Evers cashed in on an 8-yard touchdown run, weaving through the defenders to give the Titans a 16-point edge with 7:23 left in the third quarter.
Evers finished the game with 199 yards on 29 carries with two touchdowns. He credited his offensive line, but he was also patient as he ran sweeps to wait for the seams to open.
“This is the most confidence we’ve had in a long time,” Evers said. “A lot of us don’t really know what it’s like to win because we haven’t had a good season since 2021. This win, this early on, is huge. I think we’ve got a lot of wins coming up ahead.”
Kenton often looked to be its own worst enemy, turning the ball over twice and committing six penalties for 45 yards.
“I felt like we hurt ourselves tonight. There’s times that you just can’t have those turnovers, and you can’t do those things,” said Kenton coach Zach Turner. “There’s spurts that our kids play real well, but there’s spurts that we don’t, and we’ve got to get rid of that.”
Kenton (0-2, 0-1 WBL) quarterback Korbin Johnson completed 17 of 25 passes for 200 yards, including a pair of touchdowns to Zayne Perkins (seven catches 109 yards) and a score to Maddux McFarlin (four catches, 57 yards).
The Wildcats looked like they might still have some magic left in the fourth quarter after Vinnie Brinkman scored O-G’s final touchdown with 5:32 left. The Wildcats marched inside the 20 but couldn’t convert a fourth-and-1.
O-G quarterback Peyton Kuhlman was efficient, completing 6 of 11 passes for 61 yards, including a touchdown strike to Ethan Metzer that opened the first-quarter scoring. Kuhlman also had a 1-yard TD run.
The Titans gained some confidence after a rough 35-6 loss to Liberty-Benton last week, said Schriner, who picked up his 199th career victory.
“I think our guys grew up tonight,” Schriner said. “I think they really did some good things are grew up tonight. That was a tough game, physical game. We knew it was going to be that way, and I’m so pleased with how our kids rose up after things didn’t go so well last week.”
OTTAWA-GLANDORF 34, KENTON 18
Kenton Ottawa-Glandorf
15 First downs 17
288 Total yards 307
88 Rushing yards 246
200 Passing yardage 61
17-25-0 Passing 6-11-0
2-2 Fumbles-Lost 2-1
3-29.3 Punts 2-34
6-45 Penalties 2-10
Score by quarters:
Kenton 0 12 6 0 — 18
Ottawa-Glandorf 7 7 14 6 — 34
First quarter
O-G-Ethan Metzer 15 pass from Peyton Kuhlman (Cooper FIscher kick), 6:35
Second quarter
O-G-Kuhlman 1 run (Fischer kck), 8:05
K-Maddux McFarlin 22 pass fro Korbin Johnston (kick failed), 5:29
K-Zayne Perkins 39 pass from Johnston (Johnston run failed), 0:08
Third quarter
O-G-Grant Evers 40 run (Fischer kick), 8:42
O-G-Evers 8 run (Fischer kick), 7:23
K-Zayne Perkins 10 pass from Johnston (Johnston pass failed), 3:09
Fourth quarter
O-G-Vinnie Brinkman 1 run (Fischer kick), 5:32
Reach David Trinko at 567-242-0467 or on Twitter @Lima_Trinko.
